BrewDog bring brewers together for beer festival

THE Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) may have been trying to convince us that you don’t have to have a beard and a woolly jumper to enjoy beer – but the message doesn’t seem to have got through to the brewers just yet.

Plenty of beards were on show in the BrewDog beer festival, celebrating craft beers from the UK. Picture: Contributed

Controversial Ellon-based beer maker BrewDog brought together 11 other brewers to create special edition tipples for its beer festival over the weekend – and beards appear to still be the order of the day going by the accompanying group photo.

Co-founder James Watt said: “When we started out in 2007, it would have been impossible to find this many craft beer breweries to collaborate with in the UK. This is the first time so many collaborations have been unveiled by one brewery at one time anywhere in the world and is testament to the growing demand for craft beer from the public.”

Lanark to try ’elf-help scheme for Christmas

A CHRISTMAS war is brewing as the town of Lanark tries to snatch the world record for the largest number of elves gathered in the one place.

The title is currently held by the town of Bridgend, in South Wales, where 936 people gathered for “Elf-steddfod” in 2011 dressed as Santa’s elves, beating the town’s own record of 720, which was set in 2010.

New York City had previously held the record, with mayor Michael Bloomberg writing to Bridgend in 2011 to congratulate its elves on their second record attempt.

Now the Lanark Business Group hopes to take the crown on Friday 29 November to promote its late-night shopping in the run-up to Christmas.

Forth Bridge workers seal deal with animal rescue

MAINTAINING the Forth Bridge is a manly pursuit for burly construction workers. But Balfour Beatty team Mike Berry, Mark Meese, Aaron Paddon and foreman Greig Newbigging have shown their softer side by rescuing a baby seal washed up on the rocks at North Queensferry.

The team wrapped the pup in a Balfour Beatty jacket, above, and called the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), which took the seal to its national wildlife rescue centre in Alloa.

Touch Bionics user stars in his own TV show

FIRST one of its bionic hands appeared in a music video starring rapper Will.i.am and singer Britney Spears.

Now one of the wearers of Livingston-based Touch Bionics artificial hands is to star in his own television series. Bertolt Meyer is presenting The Incredible Bionic Man, which premiered last night in the United States on the Smithsonian Channel.

Touch Bionics chief executive Ian Stevens said: “The concept of bionics is fascinating to so many people, and this documentary is a testament to the incredible innovations available today.”

McGowan swaps Standard Life for London’s Finsbury

STANDARD Life spin doctor Nicola McGowan is leaving her post as senior media affairs manager to join public relations firm RLM Finsbury in London.

McGowan, who spent five years with the Edinburgh-based life insurance and pensions giant, will be looking after some of Finsbury’s financial service sector clients.

Students get revved up over Jaguar designer visit

JAGUAR car designer Ian Callum will be in Dundee tomorrow night to inspire the next generation of automotive artists. Dumfries-born Callum will deliver a lecture about how he went from sending schoolboy sketches to Jaguar in 1968 to designing its sports cars.